Antennas are used to typically radiate and/or receive electromagnetic signals, preferably with antenna gain, directivity, and efficiency. Practical antenna design traditionally involves trade-offs between various parameters, including antenna gain, size, efficiency, and bandwidth.
Antenna design has historically been dominated by Euclidean geometry. In such designs, the closed area of the antenna is directly proportional to the antenna perimeter. For example, if one doubles the length of an Euclidean square (or “quad”) antenna, the enclosed area of the antenna quadruples. Classical antenna design has dealt with planes, circles, triangles, squares, ellipses, rectangles, hemispheres, paraboloids, and the like.
With respect to antennas, prior art design philosophy has been to pick a Euclidean geometric construction, e.g., a quad, and to explore its radiation characteristics, especially with emphasis on frequency resonance and power patterns. Unfortunately antenna design has concentrated on the ease of antenna construction, rather than on the underlying electromagnetics, which can cause a reduction in antenna performance.
Antenna systems that incorporate a Euclidean geometry include man-portable communication antennas such as monopole antennas. Typically these types of antennas include a wire or rod that may be extended to a deployed position that is located above the antenna carrier's head. As such, these extendable antennas may provide a visual signature that may disclose the location of the person carrying the antenna (such as a soldier in the field). Additionally, these antennas implement a monopole design that typically exhibit a narrow instantaneous bandwidth.